The Snow Queen's Shadow (Princess Novels Series #4)

Snow knows the risk she takes with a potentially dangerous spell, but obsessively feels the enchantment is worth trying in order to save her queen. However, instead of achieving her objective, her mom's magic mirror shatters. Worse a trapped demon escapes when the barrier containing the beast splintered into a seemingly zillion pieces. Snow quickly learns why the nasty demon was incarcerated as the evil one releases hate amidst the people who begin loathing one another. As hostilities grows and to make matters viler and complex, each piece of glass has become a lethal magical weapon while Snow is fractured too. Talia and Danielle team up to try to find a way to trap the demon, save Snow and prevent a magical calamity. The final Princess fairy tale saga (see The Stepsister Scheme, The Mermaid's Madness and Red Hood's Revenge) is a terrific ending to a strong turn of the Brothers Grimm even grimmer and somehow more charming series. The key to the ending is that Jim C. Hines ties up the overarching theme but does so inside an exciting story line as his three lead princesses have come a long way since discussing virginal sleeping beauties finding their Prince Charming at some inane ball. Harriet Klausner

It's not often that I give anything in life 5 stars; this book deserves and surpasses the 5 star rating! The journeys of the characters I loved from book 1-3 do not disappoint. I was fully engaged. Breathlessly awaiting the consumption of each word. Mr. Hines brilliantly played my heart-strings and I thank him for it.

I reviewed the first book in Jim C. Hines’s Princess series a few months ago, so it seems fitting to review the last book too. Considering Hines spends the whole series turning known fairy tales on their heads, I wasn’t expecting a tidy happily-ever-after from “The Snow Queen’s Shadow.” This retelling of the snow queen legend is WAY darker than “Frozen.” :-) Instead of preserving the princess trio, Danielle and Talia find themselves battling Snow herself when a demon escapes her mother’s mirror and ensnares her with shards of broken glass. When the glass pierces its victims, all they can see is ugliness and hatred. Though the characters–and by default, the reader–learn early on how demon possession distorts a person’s worldview, it’s still hard to differentiate between Snow and the demon. The demon has her appearance, her mannerisms, and all the insider knowledge of a friend, but everything is tainted by its other-worldly evil. When the villain is an inherently good person whom the other characters know and love, the threat feels much more real. One of the reasons the stakes seem so much higher in ‘Snow Queen’ is that the possibility of danger reaches every single one of the characters. Nobody is safe and everything we know about the world is at risk. The rest of the series is peppered with minor victories or advances before the bad guy is finally defeated, but Danielle, Talia, and a new ally are thwarted almost constantly here. I expected a bittersweet finish, but Hines kept me guessing at whether he’d included any ‘sweet’ in the climax at all. Once I got past the initial mix of anticipation and dread, I flew through “The Snow Queen’s Shadow.” Whether you’re entirely happy with the ending or not, I thought Hines wrapped up the story’s loose ends as neatly as possible–while leaving plenty of room for more adventures.

It did well wrapping up the story--not necessarily what was expected but in hindsight could not have imagined a better ending. A bit grim and longwinding in the middle in a way that definitely did make me think of the traditional Snow Queen folklore. Torn between 3 and 4 stars. True to the characters and the world building. Interesting twists on fairy bargains of course. The last, at least for now, book in this series per author blogs.